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Waiting for Nothing

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Technical - Exposure, WB, settings
Composition - The story, What other angles could I have explored to bring my story across?
Post -processing - What can do to make it better?

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
This elderly man was quite out of place at Clarke Quay. And he kept sitting there and looking in random directions.
I wanted to capture a moment when he was just staring off at the distance oblivious to everything around him, seemingly lost in thought.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
-I like it. I like that this shot manages to convey a little of what I wanted it to.
-I just think it looks like a rich situation where a more experienced photographer could frame it/take the shot better.
-If I had moved toward the railing and take a shot from along the railing, I could have captured the old man staring at the underpass that is located there. But I thought it would be too distracting.

Re: Waiting for Nothing

Your 'story' is your interpretation of the fact "a man is sitting, looking in a certain direction". Therefore, it is very subjective and difficult to discuss. Also, I find it strange that the man is 'out of place'. You might emphasize on the contrast between him and the current state of the area. Walk across the bridge and check how Clarke Quay looked 30 years ago: it might have been his workplace for 30 years, where is family had a trading business for many generations. But for all this, the context is missing in the picture. A viewer cannot see that this is Clarke Quay.
Putting these interpretations aside, there's something missing here: what / where is the old man looking at? And why are his feet chopped off?

Nitewalk>>. Haha. Yeah. You are probably right. He's waiting for the next boat.

Octarine>> I get what you mean about the photo lacking a point of reference to convey the particular story that I wish to tell.

On hindsight, I could have taken a portrait shot that includes the MBS in the background. That would probably add a little more detail to the story and give it context. Thanks Octarine.

Additionally, the part on chopping his legs off, that's my bad. Poor technique. Hehe. Was too engrossed in capturing the shot that I missed out on his feet.

Question: im using a canon 650d with 50mm 1.8 II. will the viewfinder actually show more that what is captured? Cos I cant remember if I included his feet in the framing of the shot or if I should be moving back further to give allowance.

Bonrya>>. Thank you Bonrya for the positive criticism. I appreciate it. Yeah, I too agree in the hands of a more experienced photographer, the scene could have been captured better.

Truly, you pointed out several things that I didn't notice, myself. The distraction from the flowers and more so, the metallic box that breaks the uniformity of the rails. The picture could certainly do without it.

Yeah, Octarine did point out the chopped off feet. And I certainly do regret not moving back to capture the scene better.

Re: Waiting for Nothing

Originally Posted by NormanSelvaraju

Question: im using a canon 650d with 50mm 1.8 II. will the viewfinder actually show more that what is captured? Cos I cant remember if I included his feet in the framing of the shot or if I should be moving back further to give allowance.

Viewfinder coverage of 650D is 95%, which means you see only 95% of the actual frame in VF. In other words, in VF the feet were chopped off more than in your uncropped picture.
Simple basic rule: shoot wider than you need. Cropping later is easy and 18 megapixels give enough room for that.

Ronniegogs>>. Thanks for the suggestion. Looks like the popular sentiment is to crop it tighter and to make it BnW. I'll give that a shot and post it here for your comments.

Octarine>> Thank you for the Clarification! I shall keep that in mind when shooting from now. I will consciously try not to unceremoniously dismember people. Haha. Yeah. It's a waste that the uncle's legs weren't captured.

1. in what area is critique to be sought?
Technical - Exposure, WB, settings
Composition - The story, What other angles could I have explored to bring my story across?
Post -processing - What can do to make it better?

2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
This elderly man was quite out of place at Clarke Quay. And he kept sitting there and looking in random directions.
I wanted to capture a moment when he was just staring off at the distance oblivious to everything around him, seemingly lost in thought.

4. what the critique seeker personally thinks of the picture
-I like it. I like that this shot manages to convey a little of what I wanted it to.
-I just think it looks like a rich situation where a more experienced photographer could frame it/take the shot better.
-If I had moved toward the railing and take a shot from along the railing, I could have captured the old man staring at the underpass that is located there. But I thought it would be too distracting.

Should have gone down low..to his height level.. and go about 3m more Infront...So the back ground flowers are gone. N u get more details on him..if u wait abit more he might lean his hand on his chin..and that would make it more interesting...

Re: Waiting for Nothing

Hi NormanSelvaraju:

Nice job! I'm also a Newbie in shooting and here is just some ideas I wish to share.
1. For exposure, I think you have done it proper on your main target: the old man. However, as it only take less than 1/5 to in your photo, and most of the other parts is a little bit over exposure, this make the whole picture somehow too bright.
To deal with this, you may try to give a flash light assisting on your main target, or change your whole picture into B&W.

2. As you take a figure viewed from behind, the eyes are not included, and it make the emotion harder to observe. But it might also be a good way to express the feel of lonely. In this way, it might be better if you use a wider lens, make the whole scene feels more "empty".

Robinlxz>>> hi! Thanks for stopping by with your comments and advice. The part on adjusting the exposure to suit the majority of the scene instead of a just the subject is certainly something to explore. I must air that it never occurred to me, even though it certainly makes a lot of sense!

Btw, would that be settled by choosing evaluative metering?

As for Your second suggestion, it seems that many think that making it a BnW shot would make it better! I am certainly gonna try editing it this weekend. Shall put it up once I get it done.

Re: Waiting for Nothing

Originally Posted by NormanSelvaraju

Robinlxz>>> hi! Thanks for stopping by with your comments and advice. The part on adjusting the exposure to suit the majority of the scene instead of a just the subject is certainly something to explore. I must air that it never occurred to me, even though it certainly makes a lot of sense!

Btw, would that be settled by choosing evaluative metering?

As for Your second suggestion, it seems that many think that making it a BnW shot would make it better! I am certainly gonna try editing it this weekend. Shall put it up once I get it done.

Hi, I personally prefer spot metering.
About lens, I think it highly dependent on your favor in shooting. You like natural scene then wide angle is useful. A 50mm for portrait, or long focus lens for animal. Just consdier about it carefully before you made decision, and there are so many articals teaching us how to choose.
One more thing, you may use the reply button to write a new reply so that people will have a notification for it

Robinlxz>> ah. Spot metering. I still haven't gotten used to identifying the appropriate metering. Still reading up on it. I guess diff situations can call for diff metering (according to one book Chasing the light). Still learning! So I've kept it on evaluative metering.

I'm still pouring thru the data and mtf charts for the 3 lenses I've narrowed it down to. I've posted the details in the thread under sigma / Tamron. shall also post the summary of my findings once it's done for e benefit of future users.

As for "hit reply" I usually reply via iPhone. Dunno if that causes a difference.just like how I'm doing so now. I take it from your response That you dont get notified when I post a reply?

Re: Waiting for Nothing

Based on: "2. what one hopes to achieve with the piece of work?
This elderly man was quite out of place at Clarke Quay. And he kept sitting there and looking in random directions.
I wanted to capture a moment when he was just staring off at the distance oblivious to everything around him, seemingly lost in thought."

I think you can move nearer to the river and more to the right, switch to a zoom lens and capture him with further down the underpass / path as the background. Then can really show the story of him starting off at THE DISTANCE.

Andy Ang>>> Ah... Yea. Using the underpass this way would make a lot of sense. I was initially reluctant to include the underpass cos I thought it would be too distracting. But now that you mention it. It would be a great way to go about it. Thanks!

Re: Waiting for Nothing

Originally Posted by NormanSelvaraju

Andy Ang>>> Ah... Yea. Using the underpass this way would make a lot of sense. I was initially reluctant to include the underpass cos I thought it would be too distracting. But now that you mention it. It would be a great way to go about it. Thanks!

Walk around your subject and take multiple shots. This way you can learn from your pictures about what works and what does not.

Octarine>>> thank you for the suggestion. I must try to remember that. Now that you mention it, it would certainly help with learning how to frame.

Right now, I'm still a little shy about being caught by the subject. So it's just a couple of snaps from the angle I first see the said subject. Haha. But yeah, I shall work past that and explore more.

Octarine>>> thank you for the suggestion. I must try to remember that. Now that you mention it, it would certainly help with learning how to frame.

Right now, I'm still a little shy about being caught by the subject. So it's just a couple of snaps from the angle I first see the said subject. Haha. But yeah, I shall work past that and explore more.

Thanks again Octarine!

Just becareful of who u take..some Get a little peeved when people take candid shots of them..if they notice..smile at them n if u want.. u can approach them n show them ur shots......no harm..and its always good to know the photographers rights..u can search it right n carry a copy of it in case someone stops u..=)